Politifact Virginia: General Assembly Battle

It is the time of year when every aspect of proposed legislation in the Virginia General Assembly. Even though we are only at the beginning of this year's session, claims about various proposals are being thrown around fast and furious.

Take this take on Governor Bob McDonnell's proposed budget by State Senator Don McEachin.

In a recent press release McEachin wrote, "The governor's proposal amounts to 'taking money out of our classrooms to pave roads.'"

Is that true? Is the governor proposing taking money away from education and push it into transportation? The reporters at Politifact believe Senator McEachin's claim is true.

Here is what the governor has in mind. He would like to up the amount of money that comes out of the state's sales tax revenue and divert it from the general fund, directly into transportation.

Right now, five-tenths of a percent goes to roads. The governor would like to make it .55%, eventually going up to a full three quarters of a percent. It would amount to 110 million in the first two years.

"Basically if you do the cut proportionally over the course of two years, McDonnell has talked about raising 110 million dollars, if you take 33% of that it works out to about 33 million dollars," said Sean Gorman, Politifact Virginia Reporter.